WWE enhances production efficiency with high performance KVM

Background

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) is one of the largest sports entertainment organisations on the planet, broadcasting more than 500 events a year to about 36 million viewers around the world. They produce a monthly average of 400 program hours from their Stamford, Conn., campus, including 35 of domestic programming, 13 of home video, 264 of localising shows for a wide range of international markets, 99 of network material, and 29 of OTT product.

The Stamford facility delivers significant content with the help of its 7000-square-metres space. The production is spread over two buildings, five modular buildings/trailers, and three leased areas on adjacent properties. There are also nine data centers spread across three of the buildings, with more than one and a half kilometer of dark fiber connecting the sites

Challenge

In 2016, WWE considered a new KVM system that could accommodate their production load. The facility was limited to 64 ports with unreliable line ties that often caused system breakdowns.The analog VGA system also did not travel long distances well, and suffered from low video quality and limited overall resolution. The production team's graphics system was also on a separate matrix, making it difficult to get from one system to another.

The WWE required a setup that would enable control-room producers to seamlessly use multiple screens at high resolutions. The company also wanted a clean, easy user-management system and the flexibility to add both engineering and operator systems.